


at the end of the road

by CkyKing



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Brace yourselves, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 09:16:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10533435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CkyKing/pseuds/CkyKing
Summary: nyx and noctis, a last meeting under the light of the moon





	

Just a little further, he thought. I’m nearly there, please, let me get there before it’s too late.

His body hurt, pain spreading from his chest to his limbs one by one, everything going numb little by little. His mind was fragmenting, pieces of memories being consumed as he forged on, just like casting away weight to keep from sinking.

His mother’s eyes, his uncle’s proud smile, his father’s arms around him. Gone, gone, _gone_. One last glimpse and they disappeared, leaving only lingering afterimages, past happiness casting too strong a light for his strained mind to bear. Or was it his body that couldn’t stand it anymore?

Stumbling on the rocky terrain, Noctis kept his gaze trained on the far away moon, his compass in a world that was slowly getting darker. Insomnia was a massive shadow looming at his back, one that he stubbornly ignored in spite of his ancestors’ roars. As if to answer their wrath, the ring pulsed angrily on his finger, crystalline fragments flickering around it every so often, the light illuminating the dark stain that grew larger and larger under his hand.

He could feel a flickering pulse of power in front of him, up on the cliff he was moving toward. Noctis already knew where he was going, and thinking about it made a dull pain rise within him. Of course, it would end here, of all places.

Slowly, painfully, he continued up the road carved deep into the rock until, finally, he reached the top. Even to his failing sight, the place looked just as beautiful as it had before, flowers blooming everywhere on the plateau. And, standing at its edge, was the one who had brought him there for the first time.

His body, pushed to its limits, finally gave up as he neared the grassy ground, knees hitting it with a dull sound.

The pain of pulling the Engine Blade from his Armiger would have sent him to his knees if he hadn’t already been kneeling, but he persisted. After a few seconds of struggle, it manifested in an explosion of crystal shards that were reflected in the grey eyes looking dispassionately down at him.

Ignoring them, he stabbed it into the ground between his spread legs, hands wrapped around the hilt for balance and forehead leaning against the cold metal.

“I hate you,” Noctis whispered, black blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, “I hate you so fucking much. You betrayed us, destroyed Insomnia, _killed my father_.”

His voice ran out for a moment as he thought back to his father’s smile as he died, his hand so cold in his as he passed the ring on to him; and his throat tightened with emotion. But - he only had a few more moments left, and if they were to be his last, he would make them count.

He carefully did not think of the stolen kisses in corridors, the secret escapes beyond the Wall, the touches shared in a sunny apartment, the promise woven in a gifted blade. And he did not ask the question he truly wanted an answer to at the end of his life. _Did you ever really love me?_

“Still, you are the only one left that I can entrust this to. I don’t care who you do it for, be it for your family, your comrades or even yourself. But please, I beg you, do not let this world be overtaken by darkness.” As he said this, he felt the Royal Arms appearing around him, silent witnesses to the Last King’s words. He was too far gone to be of any use to them, and they had finally accepted it.

His sight was gone, the scourge inside of him devouring everything it could reach. It wouldn’t be long now.

Yet, he wasn’t completely defenceless, and managed to catch the hand heading toward his face, resisting the urge to lean into it for comfort. Reluctantly, he let it go and called another familiar blade to his hand, kukri fitting as perfectly as it always had. Before the man in front of him even had time to react, he had already brought it to his middle finger and cut through it; the ring too fused with his flesh to be taken off another way.

“It’s yours now. Please, if you ever had any feelings for me….take care of everyone” He said as he let the knife drop to the ground, “It’s nearly time.”

They would end as they had begun, in silence. Still, why did it hurt so much? Was everything useless? Had it all been for nothing?

It was a relief when he heard his sword being slowly pulled out of the ground.

It was a relief when he felt his weakened body being pulled to its feet.

It was a relief when he was run through.

Nyx’s voice was the last thing he heard, words incomprehensible but voice comforting nonetheless.

_A man lays dying at the end of the road, and regrets are heavy on his tongue. But there is no one left to hear them. Long live the King._


End file.
